A 68-year-old woman from Delhi has been confirmed as the second Indian to die from the coronavirus.
The woman, who had underlying health conditions, is thought to have been infected by her son who travelled to Switzerland and Italy last month.
India's first fatality from the virus was confirmed on Thursday.
The 76-year-old man, from the southern state of Karnataka, died after returning from a month-long visit to Saudi Arabia on 29 February.
People who came in contact with the man are being traced and quarantined, the state's health minister said. India has 82 confirmed cases of the virus, the health ministry says.
The Delhi woman's son was "initially asymptomatic but developed a fever and cough after one day", a government statement said. The family were then screened and the mother and son admitted to hospital.
The 76-year-old Karnataka man was screened at the airport on his return but showed no symptoms at the time. After he developed difficulties last week, he was taken to hospital. He died on Tuesday but it was not reported until Thursday.
Also Read: Coronavirus Update: One More Person In Delhi Found Who Affect From Coronavirus
India's Supreme Court has said it will only hear urgent cases from Monday, and has restricted the number of people who can enter a courtroom.
Karnataka has banned all gatherings including weddings, sports events and conferences for a week as the country attempts to slow the spread of the virus.
Malls, movie theatres, pubs and night clubs have also been shut.
"The government will decide on further action after a week following a review," the state's chief minister BS Yediyurappa announced on Friday.
But he said that government offices would continue to function as normal.
India has taken a number of steps to halt the spread of Covid-19:
- All visas, barring a select few categories, have been suspended for a month
- Visa-free travel afforded to overseas citizens of the country has been suspended until 15 April and even those allowed in could be subject to 14 days of quarantine
- Schools, colleges and movie theatres in the capital, Delhi, have been shut until 31 March
- The Indian Premier League (IPL), featuring nearly 60 foreign players and scheduled to begin on 29 March, has been postponed to 15 April
- Two one-day cricket matches between India and South Africa will be played behind closed doors
India's health ministry says it was among the first countries in the world to prepare for an outbreak of the respiratory illness, and denied allegations that it was slow in testing suspected cases.
"Our surveillance system is strong and we are able to quickly identify any symptomatic patients," RR Gangakhedkar from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told reporters on Thursday.
Also Read: 3 Steps to Reducing Fear of Coronavirus in India
Is India prepared for an outbreak?
However, there are concerns about whether the country will be fully equipped to prevent and treat an outbreak.
It would be near impossible for India to force its citizens into mass quarantine and hospitalise people in numbers like China, says the BBC's Soutik Biswas.
Our correspondent says there are also concerns about the country's poor healthcare data. India has a shoddy record in even recording deaths and disease - only 77% of deaths are registered, and doctors are more likely to get the cause of death wrong than right, according to a study the Toronto-based Centre for Global Research. There is patchy data for flu-related deaths.
Rumours, myths and misconceptions spread through social media could also hamper an effective response to the infection.
India records second death
- India records second death and Delhi registers its first due to corona virus COVID-19, while coronavirus positive cases have jumped to 86, with three fresh cases reported from Maharashtra, and one each from Manesar Army facility in Gurgaon and Jammu & Kmir, according to media reports (See details in Maharashtra; and Delhi, NCR; J&K). These cases were reported after a second official update of 81 cases including one death was issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 13 March evening. Out of the 81 cases, 64 are Indian nationals, 17 are foreign nationals.
- The second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has returned to India, in Mumbai this afternoon, from coronavirus-hit Iran aboard an Iran Air plane. They will reach Jaisalmer soon. The first batch of 58 pilgrims reached in India on Tuesday.
- Four SAARC nations – Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives – supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to devise a joint strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
- Even though India is preparing to facilitate the return of its nationals from coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy, it advised them to avoid non-essential overseas tours until the pandemic COVID-19 subsides as they could be quarantined for 14 days at least.
- Operators of private airport operators have asked the government to allow levying a fee on each flight ticket to cover expenses made by them to screen arriving passengers for coronavirus symptoms.
- In view of the coronavirus situation, JNU has suspended classes until April, IIT Delhi has cancelled all classes with immediate effect and IIM Ahmedabad has cancelled convocation slated for 21 March.
- BCCI postpones IPL 2020 from 29 March to 15 April.
- Jail inmates in Kerala to make masks in the wake of pandemic COVID-19.
- Air India flight to fly back Indians stranded in Milan. There are 200 Indian students in Milan.
Coronavirus pandemic in India
- India records second death and Delhi registers its first due to corona virus COVID-19, while coronavirus positive cases have jumped to 89, with two new cases reported in Maharashtra and one in Uttar Pradesh on 14 March, according to media reports.
- India becomes fifth country in the world after Japan, Thailand, US and China to isolate the COVID-19 coronavirus virus strain. This is expected to help the country to expedite development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostic kits, said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava.
- Pakistan responds positively to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video conferencing offer with SAARC countries to discuss ways to deal with corona virus pandemic.
- Tihar Jail sets up isolation ward.
- IIT-D students have been asked to leave hostel by Sunday midnight in the wake of rise in coronavirus cases.
- WHO says Europe is currently the ‘epicentre’ of COVID-19.
- With corona cases increasing rapidly in the world, Badminton World Federation cancels all tournaments including India Open until 12 April.
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